Method of preparing synthetic filaments for wig making purposes and for making wigs therefrom



Nov. 28, 1950 2,531,685

M. JACOBY METHOD OF PREPARING SYNTHETIC FILAMENTS FOR WIG MAKINGPURPOSES AND FOR MAKING WIGS THEREFROM Filed Dec. 27, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

ME YE]? JACOB K ATTOFNEK Patented Nov. 28, 1950 METHOD OF PREPARINGSYNTHETIC FILA- MENTS FOR WIG MAKING PURPOSES AND FOR MAKING WIGSTHEREFROM Meyer Jacoby, New Yorla N. Y.

Application December 27, 1949, Serial No. 135,228

This invention relates to wigs and to a method of making the same.

The invention is applicable to wigs for toy dolls, and manikins, as wellas to wigs or hair pieces which may be worn by performers on the stageand screen, and by persons generally. A principal diflerence between thewigs of the present inlvention and conventional wigs heretofore made, isthe difference in the material of which the respective wigs are made.Conventional wigs or hair pieces which aremade of natural fibers such as.human hair, mohair, wool, or the like, have low tensile strength. Thewigs of the present in- ,vention, on the other hand, are made ofsynthetic filaments, such as nylon, which has relatively mat tensilestrength. It has heretofore been found not only difficult, but alsoimpossible to make wigs of realistic appearance with nylon or similarsynthetic fi aments. There have been dimculties in dyeing the filamentsuniformly, difficul'ties in cutting them so that they will appearrealistic, and difilculties in waving or curling them to simulate curledor waved human hair.

Wigs made in accordance with the present invention are made to act andappear like human hair. Their coloring is uniform and the ends of thefilaments are uneven in length and blended to simulate the ends ofnatural, growing human hair. The filaments of which these wigs are madeare also curled or waved to simulate very precisely the curls and wavesof growing, human hair. All in all, therefore, the instant wigs whichare made of synthetic material, produce every effect of being made ofthe finest human hair.

The method of making wigs in accordance with the present inventioncomprises a combination of mechanical and chemical steps. The initialsteps relate to the preparation of the filaments themselves and thefinal steps relate to the use of these filaments in preparing the wig.

"- Formerly, if wigs were to be made which could be combed and washed,the hairs had to behandjwei'ted or ventilated. n the other hand, wigsmade in accordance with the present invention involve a sewingtechniquewhich adapts the wig to be combed, washed, re-curled, etc., with ease byamateur, as well as by professional wig users. More specifically, thefirst step in the processes relates to the dyeing of the filaments. Ithas heretofore been customary to dye the filaments in short lengths,such as in the length of a hank.

- This necessitated the employment of hand-dyeingmethods since short cutlengths of filaments.

cannot conveniently be dyed by any other process; Hand dyeing does notand cannot give uni- 2 Claims. (Cl. 132-5) form color and this is onereason why the earlier methods of making wigs of synthetic filamentsreferred to herein, were totally unsuccessful. In the present invention,on the other hand, the filaments are handled in continuous lengths whichare wound on spools or reels or into long skeins and then dyed by thesame continuous processes which are commonly employed in dyeing wool andother yarns; Since the filaments are dyed in continuous lengths by acontinuous machine process, uniform color results, and all lengths offilaments can be cut therefrom.

The second ste relates to the treatment of the dyed filaments to preventthem from becoming charged with static electricity. Filaments which areuntreated for this purpose are very difficult to manage and they cannotreadily be curled or waved to simulate human hair. The processesheretofore employed did not include this very important step and hencethe end results were invariably unfortunate. Any conventional means andmethod may be utilized in the present invention to treat the filamentsto prevent them. from becoming charged with static electricity.

The third step in the process involves cutting the filaments to usablelengths. Heretofore, the filaments have been cut perpendicular to theirlengths and the eifect was to produce a stubby ap pearance, much likethat of a paint brush; I the instant process, however, the filaments anmore precisely the skeins or bunches of filaments, are cut at an angleof approximately off the perpendicular. Asa matter of fact, an angle ofand even of! the perpendicular (that is; angles of 15 and 10 withrespect to the lengths of the filaments) have been found to be verysatisffactory for the purposes of this invention.

The fourth step in the process of the present invention relates to theblending or mixing oi the filaments so as to blend the short lengthswith the long lengths to produce a realistic effect, and at theconclusion of the operation the filaments are completely inter-mingledand parallel and retain their individuality. The fifth step involves thecurling 'of the filaments to simulate curled or waved natural hair. Ithas heretofore been found very dimcult to achieve this result withsynthetic filaments for the reason that curling methods which aregenerally applicable to natural hair only have been applied to thesynthetic filaments. In the present process, however, permanent curls orwaves are formed in the filaments in accordance with the followingmethod: A tuft or bunch of the cut and blended filaments is wound arounda man- 3 drel or other curling means, in the usual way. The curled tuftis then temporarily secured to the mandrel and placed in a steam bath ofwater and ammonia, for a suitable period, and then dried at a high heatin order permanently to condition the synthetic filaments inherently tobe wavy instead of straight and springy. The curl is then removed fromthe mandrel. The result is a permanent curl or wave which is exceedinglyrealistic.

The succeeding steps relate to the making of the wig proper from tuftsof permanently curled synthetic filaments. These steps, and some of thepreceding steps, are illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of a plurality of filaments, shown prior to the cuttingoperation and also showing the angles of the cuts, and thereby ilportionof the curled tuft sewed to a wig foundation, this step and the stepillustrated in Fig. 4 constituting the sixth step in the process hereinclaimed.

Fig. 6 illustrates the seventh step wherein one end of the curled tuftis folded. over upon the other end and the fold or bight portion thereofis sewed to the wig formation so as to maintain the tuft in foldedcondition.

Fig. '7 illustrates the eighth step wherein a second tuft, similar tothat shown in Fig. 3, is pulled taut or straight in the middle, as shownin Fig. 4, and then sewed to the fold in the first tuft and to the wigformation, in the same manner that the first tuft is shown to be sewedto the wig foundation in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 illustrates a further step wherein one end of the second tuft isfolded over upon its other end and the fold portion or bight of saidsecond tuft is then sewed to the fold portion or bight of the first tuftand also to the wig foundation.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a wig which may be made by following thesteps of the process above set forth.

The steps in the process which the drawin ilustrates may further bedescribed as follows: Continuous lengths of filaments 20 may be dyed byconventional continuous process methods and then treated to prevent themfrom becoming charged with static electricity. The dyed and treatedcontinuous lengths of filaments may then be out along lines 2| and 22shown in Fig. 1, these lines bearing at angles of approximately andrespectively, to the longitudinal axes of the filaments. The cutfilaments 23 are then blended as Fig. 2 clearly shows to intermingle theuneven lengths and to produce a natural effect. The blended filamentsare then wound on a mandrel to produce a curl and exposed to a water andammonia steam bath for approximately one shown in Fig. 3. The curledtuft or lock is then heat-treated by placing it in a heat compartment ata suiiiciently elevated temperature to obtain a permanently set curl. Ithas been found that if the temperature is maintained somewhere betweenF. and 250 F. for a period of about 5 minutes, excellent results areobtained. The denier of the nylon filaments will determine the length oftime and the degree of heat necessary to obtain best results. After theheat treatment, the curl is removed from the mandrel.

It will be noted that in the particular tuft shown in Fig. 3, there arefive coils or curls 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d, and 25a, respectively. Thiscurled tuft is then pulled taut at its center portion, therebyeliminating coil 25c and providing in its stead a straight portion 25The curled tuft of filament isnow ready for the wig .making operations.

It will be noted in Fig. 5 that the straight portion 251 of the curledtuft is sewed to a wiK foundation 30 by means of stitching 3!. It willthen be noted in Fig. 6, that that end of the curled tuft which includescurls or coils 25d and 25a is folded over upon the opposite end of thetuft, that is upon curls or coils 25a and 25b, thereby forming a fold orbight 32 which is then sewed to the wig foundation by means of stitching33.

A similar curled tuft is then placed upon the first curled tuft in themanner shown in Fig. '7, and the straight center portion thereof issewed to the bight of the first tuft and also to the wig foundation bymeans of stitching 34. To distinguish the second tuft of filaments fromthe first, the second is identified by means of the reference character35 and its coils are designated by means of the reference characters35a, 35b. 35d and 35a respectively. Its coil which corresponds to coilMe of the first coiled tuft, is not shown in the drawing. That end ofthe second tuft of curled filaments, which includes coils or curls 35aand 35b, is folded over upon the opposite end thereof which includescoils or curls 35d and 35e. A bight 38 thereby results and stitching 31and 38 are employed to sew said bight to the bight of the first curledtuft and also to the wig foundation.

As viewed in the drawing, the right end por. tion of the first tuft offilaments is folded over upon the left end portion. The left end portionof the second tuft of filaments is folded over upon its right endportion. Hence, there is in effect, a double tuft of filaments on eachside of the series of stitches Si, 33, 34, 31 and 38. See Fig. 8. It isby this method that wig 40 shown in Fig. 9 may be made. The double rowof stitches shown in said wig are stitches 31 and 3!, respectively,which are best shown in Fig. 8. All of the other stitches are hidden.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a very unique and highlysuccessful method of making wigs is herein set forth; that by thismethod of stitching, all filaments on the wig can be combed andwashedwithout danger of any of the filaments coming loose. Of course, itwill be clearly understood that this method is purely illustrative ofthe present invention and it may be modified in many ways within thebroad scope and spirit of the invention. For example, although thisinvention relates principally to nylon filaments, it may be utilized inconnection with filaments made of other similar synthetic materials and,for that matter, it may also be utilized in connection with filamentsmade of natural materials. Where the problem of static electricity 5does not exist, obviously the second step in the process may be omitted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The method of making a wig of nylon and similar synthetic filamentswhich includes the following steps: dyein the filaments in long,continuous skeins, cutting said skeins at acute angles to form hanks offilaments of unequal lengths, blending said filaments of unequallengths, then winding said hanks of blended filaments on a mandrel andtemporarily securing said winding, exposin said wound filaments to asteam bath of water and ammonia, then heattreating the steamed windin ata sufllciently elevated temperature to permanently set a curl in thewinding. then removing the winding from the mandrel to obtain a curledtress or lock of simulated hair, then straightening the center portionof each curled tress, securing the center portion of one of said curledtresses to a wi foundation, folding over one end of said tress upon theopposite end and then securin the re sulting fold between said ends tosaid wig foundation, securing the center portion of a second curledtress to the fold of the first tress and also to the wig foundation,folding over one end of said second tress upon the opposite end thereofand then securing the resulting fold between the two ends of the secondtress to the fold of the first tress and also to the wig foundation.

' 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the dyed skeins are treated toprevent the filaments from becoming charged with static electricity,prior to the step of cutting said skeins at acute angles to form hanksof filaments of unequal lengths. MEYER JACOBY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record. in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A WIG OF NYLON AND SIMILAR SYNTHETIC FILAMENTSWHICH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STEPS: DYEING THE FILAMENTS IN LONG,CONTINUOUS SKEINS, CUTTING SAID SKEINS AT ACUTE ANGLES TO FORM HANKS OFFILAMENTS OF UNEQUAL LENGTHS, BLENDING SAID FILAMENTS OF UNEQUALLENGTHS, THEN WINDING SAID HANKS OF BLENDED FILAMENTS ON A MANDREL ANDTEMPORARILY SECURING SAID WINDING, EXPOSING SAID WOUND FILAMENTS TO ASTEAM BATH OF WATER AND AMMONIA, THEN HEATTREATING THE STEAMED WINDINGAT A SUFFICIENTLY ELEVATED TEMPERATURE TO PERMANENTLY SET A CURL IN THEWINDING, THEN REMOVING THE WINDING FROM THE MANDREL TO OBTAIN A CURLEDTRESS OR LOCK OF SIMULATED HAIR, THEN STRAIGHTENING THE CENTER PORTIONOF EACH CURLED TRESS, SECURING THE CENTER PORTION OF ONE OF SAID CURLEDTRESSES TO A WIG FOUNDATION, FOLDING OVER ONE END OF SAID TRESS UPON THEOPPOSITE END AND THEN SECURING THE RESULTING FOLD BETWEEN SAID ENDS TOSAID WIG FOUNDATION, SECURING THE CENTER PORTIONOF A SECOND CURLED TRESSTO THE FOLD OF THE FIRST TRESS AND ALSO TO THE WIG FOUNDATION, FOLDINGOVER ONE END OF SAID SECOND TRESS UPON THE OPPOSITE END THEREOF AND THENSECURING THE RESULTING FOLD BETWEEN THE TWO ENDS OF THE SECOND TRESS TOTHE FOLD OF THE FIRST TRESS AND ALSO TO THE WIG FOUNDATION.